China turns to UN to set record straight in row with Vietnam over oil rig

Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a meeting to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the enforcement of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, at the UN headquarters in New York, on June 9, 2014. (Xinhua/Niu Xiaolei)

China sends note to UN chief to clarify Xisha situation

China has presented documents to the United Nations, proving its sovereignty over the Xisha Islands ...

Beijing’s efforts to garner support at the United Nations in its territorial row with Hanoi reflect its maturing diplomacy as well as its determination to clarify facts and defend interests, observers said.

In a rare move, Wang Min, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, handed a position paper to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday.

Wang asked Ban to circulate the paper, which includes an article from the Foreign Ministry detailing its stance, among all 193 members of the General Assembly.

“Previously, we seldom take maritime territorial rows to the international arena, but this time, China is determined to make the facts clear,” said Luo Yongkun, a researcher on South-East Asian studies with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

He added that Beijing’s efforts to take the row to the UN are a signal of “its diplomacy getting mature”.

“We have strong proof of sovereignty over the region and have done a lot benefiting countries in the region. However, we seldom talk about that on international sites, as some countries do, so few are aware of that,” he said. “It’s not only about the row with Vietnam, but also about defending China’s national image.”

Vietnam has sent notes to the UN about the dispute, harshly criticising China and hinting at the possibility of seeking international arbitration, which Beijing said it would never accept.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that she hoped the news media can understand the aim of Hanoi in hyping the row.

The Chinese note handed to the UN accused Vietnam of ramming Chinese vessels more than 1,400 times near a Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea recently.

It said China National Offshore Oil Corp has been conducting seismic operations and well site surveys in the area for the past 10 years, and the drilling operation “is a continuation of the routine process of exploration and falls well within China’s sovereignty and jurisdiction”.

The operation area is 31km from the baseline of the territorial waters of China’s Xisha Islands, and between 246 and 289km from the coast of Vietnam.

“Vietnam also sent frogmen and other underwater agents to the area, and dropped large numbers of obstacles, including fishing nets and floating objects, in the waters,” the paper said.

It said Vietnam’s actions violated China’s sovereignty, posed “grave threats” to Chinese personnel on the rig and violated international laws including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“China sent the note to tell the international community the truth and set straight their understanding on the issue,” Wang said after delivering the position paper.

However, he called for maritime disputes to be settled through negotiation between the parties directly involved.

Chen Xiangyang, another researcher at the China Institute of Contem­porary International Rela­tions, said Beijing’s move is a “justifiable defence” against Hanoi’s provocation at the UN.

He said that on this issue, China also has to fight the biased reports of Western media and some countries taking sides with Vietnam regardless of the history and facts. — China Daily / Asia News Network

Related:

• Vietnam fooling no one

• China defends legitimacy of oil rig in S. China Sea

  

  In an article posted on its Foreign Ministry website, China has defended the legitimacy of its oil d...

• History of Chinese sovereignty over the Xisha Islands

For decades, Chinese official statements and legal documents have again and again reaffirmed China’s...

• • China urges settling maritime disputes through negotiation

    A Chinese envoy said China attaches high importance to maritime affairs at a meeting to commemorate ...

A father’s love for his family

You don’t need words to express how you feel when deeds can clearly get the message across

BEING close to 1,000km away from home by air indirectly means that a lot of times, I will miss out on many celebrations in Kuching.

Earlier this month, the Sarawakians were celebrating Gawai, or the harvest festival in the state.

Although the Dragon Boat Festival is also celebrated here, it is not the same without my mother’s home-made dumplings.

The faster pace of life here coupled with the number of activities I can do keep me occupied and provide me with a sense of fulfilment.

However, when I slow down, I will feel homesick once in a while.

Not long ago, I called my father to tell him that I would like to fly back to Kuching for a break.

He told me to save the flight money and “rest” because he thinks that flying can be a bit of a hassle.

It may sound odd as to why a father would tell his daughter not to go home for those reasons.

Flight tickets are very affordable these days especially during the off peak seasons or when the airlines are running a promotion.

And while it does take some effort to get to the airport, check-in and fly back all that usually takes about four hours (assuming there is no delay with the flight).

For a round trip back to my hometown, it possibly costs me a few hundred ringgit and eight hours of travelling but that, according to my father, is an unnecessary waste of time and money.

“Save your hard-earned money for better use,” he would say.

So, usually, I will fly back twice a year; once during Chinese New Year and another trip will be made as and when I want to.

“There really is no need to come back so often. It is such a chore. All you have to do is call us more often,” he argued.

I did not argue that it would not be the same because my father’s logic is slightly different from others’ and he is a bit stubborn.

“A bit” may be an understatement based on my mother’s standard but that is my father.

A man of few words who sometimes says things that people least expect and to a certain degree, mysterious.

Mysterious in a sense that no one in the family knows what he really thinks and how he really feels.

Sometimes I ask, “Why?”, and he will reply, “Don’t ask so much”.

Surprisingly, asking questions is part and parcel of what I do for a living now.

Compared to my mother, who will show her concern and express her thoughts overtly (and most of the times excessively), my father appears somewhat “emotionally detached”.

My mother is the kind who will impose her values and what she thinks is good on her children but my father appears cool and easy-going with many of the decisions his children make in life.

The difference in their approaches became antecedent to their arguments but my mother will usually have the last word.

When my mother gets angry, we usually know the reason but when my father becomes furious, the cause is mostly unknown.

Hence, that makes me wonder more, “Why?”

I cannot even comprehend the kind of food he loves – duck neck and fish head.

Most people prefer the meaty parts.

After countless “whys” on the subject, I finally realised that, all these are just the ways my father expresses his love.

He leaves the best for his family.

He swallows his pain, conceals his emotions because he does not want others to worry.

It is also because “by default” based on most societies’ standards, a man has to put a strong front to provide for and to protect his family.

His love is in his actions but not words, subtle yet powerful, silent yet beautiful. That, is a father’s love for his family.

> Ng Bei Shan, a business journalist with The Star, salutes all the fathers for being a warrior of their families. She hopes those who are able to celebrate the coming Father’s Day to treasure the moments with their heroes and gently reminds those who cannot make it back home to give their fathers a warm greeting.

 Contributed by  # BAH! Ng Bei Shan
Ng Bei Shan, a business journalist with the Star, salutes all the fathers for being a warrior of their families. She hopes those who are able to celebrate the coming Father's Day to treasure the moments with their heroes and gently reminds those who cannot make it back home to give their fathers a warm greeting.

Related articles:

MRT Line 2 excites market, but contract awards may be a year away

www.starproperty.my

BY NG BEI SHAN. PETALING JAYA: News that the second line of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) has been approved excites the market, with big-cap construction ...

Malaysia's GUH in talks for stake in Combodian power plant

www.starproperty.my

BY NG BEI SHAN. PETALING JAYA: GUH Holdings Bhd is poised to take the plunge in the power generation sector by acquiring a substantial stake in Leader ...

Related:

Top 10 reasons why every daughter needs her father

Related posts:

What do fathers want?

FATHER'S Day is this Sunday and the “Sweet and chocolaty message for fathers” in The Star the other day has prompted me to put on my thinking cap on what a father wants for his children, the generations to come, and the ...

A father's lament: The real world is not a game! 

A few days ago, I handed my son a Vinci tablet to try out. This is another well-intentioned product for young children. It comes with pre-installed educational games carefully geared to kids up to about my son's age (actually ...

http://right-waystan.blogspot.com/

European anti-crisis strategy: Sex, drugs, alcohol could boost economic growth

The euro sculpture is seen outside the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany. European governments are slowly turning to drugs, sex and contraband as a way to boost their respective economies. — Reuters pic

European governments are turning their attention to prostitution, drugs and contraband as possible ways of boosting their economic growth profiles, as they struggle away from their debt crises, AFP reports. 

Sex and drugs to add to Europe's murky GDP figures

Italy caused a stir when it announced last month that it would begin including revenues from drug trafficking and the sex trade, as well as contraband tobacco and alcohol, to calculate gross domestic product (GDP) from next year.

One effect would be to reduce the public deficit as a ratio of output, if EU authorities were to accept the idea. That would be a big help to countries trying to get their public deficits below the EU ceiling of 3.0 percent of output.

In 2012, Italy's central bank estimated the value of the criminal economy at 10.9 percent of GDP. Including these figures could therefore boost the country's growth to above the government's 1.3 percent estimate.

Last month, Britain said including illegal activities such as prostitution and drugs into national accounts would add about 10 billion pounds (12.3 billion euros, $16.8 billion) to GDP, equivalent to about one percent of national output.

Using the undeclared or so-called black economy to calculate national statistics is part of a range of changes recommended by the European Union's statistical institute, Eurostat, to be implemented in September.

Eurostat said including such data would allow a better comparison between countries with different laws.

"GDP is not an indicator of morality," said a spokesman, adding that only transactions carried out consensually would be included.

But others are less convinced.

Eric Vernier, researcher at the Institute of International Relations, said including "gross criminal product" in growth figures is a cynical attempt to combat the Eurozone's debt crisis.

"The problem is to put this new statistical method on the table at the moment when everyone has budget problems," he said.

"There has been a general acceptance of this accounting approach since the crisis: what matters most is what goes into the state coffers."

"Denial of basic morality"

Many of Europe's struggling governments will welcome any boost to growth figures that will reassure both disillusioned voters and markets.

But the decision has sparked outrage among politicians and rights groups.

The French minister for women's rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Belgium's Interior Minister Joelle Milquet, have both written to the European Commission to express their "astonishment" over the proposals.

"Prostitution is not a voluntary commercial activity. To believe that it can have an ideological bias is a mirage and an insult to the millions of victims of sexual exploitation worldwide", they said.

"Prostitution cannot be assumed to be a transaction freely agreed between parties. The question also arises concerning drugs, especially hard drugs, considering the issue of addiction," added Ronan Mahieu, head of INSEE, which calculates France's GDP.

A spokeswoman for the Association for the Protection of Women's Rights in Britain said the group was "surprised and saddened" by the decision.

While in France, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the extreme-right National Front party which came top in recent European Parliament elections, described it as a "denial of basic morality."

'Shadow market'

Europe's black market is already huge, according to experts.

Friedrich Schneider, professor at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz in Austria, estimates that the European Union's "shadow market" is equal to 18.6 percent of the bloc's 2014 GDP.

But calculating the value of illegal activities is no easy task.

An EU document from 2012, littered with acronyms and complex mathematical formulas, gives guidelines on how to calculate the "inputs" of the prostitution industry, such as the cost of renting an apartment, or "transport and storage" for drug traffickers.

It even includes how to interpret the "ratio of purity" in narcotics.

Schneider argues that undeclared illegal activities and "value creating" services such as prostitution should be included in the calculations, but not totally criminal activities.

On this basis, Germany, Italy and France account for about half of Europe's black-market activities.

In recession-hit Greece, he estimates that black market transactions account for an estimated 23 percent of GDP, lower than the estimated 40 percent of the less-developed economies of Eastern Europe, but far higher than the roughly eight percent in Luxembourg. - AFP

Related post:

WW2 D-Day remembered in Normandy France; China praises Germany, slams Japan for denial of its brutal history

Full Video: Commemorative events held in Normandy ... China praises Germany, slams Japan (Reuters) - China used the 70th anniv...